Yay for fall weather and warm, spicy soup! I haven't blogged about food in quite a while, so I'm very happy to share this post with you. I made this soup on Sunday and have enjoyed it for lunch everyday so far this week. This recipe comes from the Cuisine at Home magazine, the source for most of my favorite recipes. I'll be posting more recipes from this October issue soon. The cream soup is thickened with a roux and then cheese is added for texture and flavor. Cheese can easily separate when added to a hot soup. Here's a few suggestions from the magazine to prevent curdling:{1} Don't let the soup boil or the cheese will break when it hits the boiling liquid and curdle.{2} Use an acid like wine or beer to help prevent curdling.{3} Be sure to use whole milk. It's high milk fat content means it's less likely to curdle.Yeah, we drink skim milk 'round these parts. (well Jake does) so I added some heavy cream to the 3 cups of skim milk to add more fat to the mixture.Makes about 8 cups.

DIRECTIONSMelt butter in a large pot. Stir in bell pepper, poblano, onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin and coriander. Sweat mixture until peppers begin to soften, about five minutes.

Whisk in three tbsp. flour to coat vegetables; cook two minutes. Whisk in milk, beer and broth until smooth. Bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in rice; simmer until tender, about 15 minutes.

Combine cheese with remaining three tbsp. flour in a resealable plastic bag; toss to coat. Add cheese to soup a handful at a time, stirring to melt completely before adding the next handful. Add chicken and cilantro to heat, 3 to 5 minutes. Garnish each serving of soup with lime slices. For a crunchy addition, add some tortilla chips!

Graphic designer, baker and a photo taker. Inspired by Jesus, photography, stellar design, all things creative, cooking, the arts and funny stuff.
I prefer to visually tell stories through photographs; whether a trip I was on, a dessert I made or a recent vintage find. Art is all around me, and I capture it whenever I can.